Sorry again for the long wait. Of the six months it took to get this chapter out, I probably spent about five and a half on the very last scene. There are a few reasons for that, but they can wait until the end.

Today we meet a couple of new characters, and there are a few big reveals.

On with the show!

Chapter 4

Say Hello to the Bad Guy

"Finally," Stephanie gasped, out of breath. "We made it."

"Is that the center over there?" Ron asked, pointing at a building with a roof shaped like the top half of a Poke Ball.

"Yeah, that's it," Stephanie answered. "And it looks like Marcus got my message."

She gestured to a dark-skinned boy leaning against the Pokemon Center wall near the entrance.

Good, Harry thought. It's about time something went right here.

That seemed to provide the group a spark as they picked up the pace as they neared the Pokemon Center.

"Hey, Marcus!" Stephanie called out. "Thanks for…"

She trailed off and stopped moving just before they reached the Center.

"Wait," she said.

Then she smirked and shook her head.

"Kuro, use Quick Attack."

"Vee!"

Kuro charged and halfheartedly rammed into Marcus, or what they had thought was Marcus. There was a flash when Kuro made contact, and standing where Marcus had been was a small, dark gray, foxlike Pokemon.

It startled Ron.

"What…what is that?!"

"It's a Zorua, Ron," Hermione said with a hint of annoyance. "You should know that. It was one of the first memories Stephanie gave us."

Ron started to argue back, and Harry decided to tune them out and turned his attention back to the Zorua. Stephanie was petting it on the head and talking to it.

"Nice to see you, too, Kit," she said. "He still won't give up on this, huh?"

The Zorua yipped in reply.

"Should have known," she sighed.

She straightened up and looked over at the side corner.

"Nice try, Mr. Wolf," she said. "But you should know by now that trick doesn't work on me."

The real Marcus emerged from the side of the Pokemon Center.

"You sounded tired in your message," he said. "I thought by now you might be too worn out to notice."

"Come on," Stephanie said. "What do you take me for?"

"Seriously, though," Marcus said. "I'm glad you made it here alright. So, who are your friends?"

"Yeah," Stephanie said uneasily. "About that…"

"Stephanie should get her Pokemon healed up first," said Harry to Marcus. "After that, we've got a story for you."

"That's…very interesting," was all Marcus could manage to say.

They were in a hotel room in Rustboro City. Marcus and Stephanie had booked another room for Harry, Ron and Hermione as well. Stephanie had given Marcus an information dump much like she had given them in Petalburg Woods.

"So, what do you think?" Stephanie asked. "Can your sister help them?"

"I honestly don't know," he said. "Rebecca rarely ever talks about her work – not that she really could if she wanted to – I'm not sure if they could even investigate this type of thing."

Marcus paused for a moment.

"You know, it's really too bad we're not in Alola right now. There's a facility for researching other dimensions there."

"Can you try calling her?" Stephanie asked. "You saw how urgent their situation is."

"I'll give it a try," he said. "But I should probably do this in another room. It could get really nasty once she realizes I'm asking her to help you."

Stephanie nodded.

"I understand."

Marcus left the room, leaving the four of them alone.

"Here we go," Stephanie said. "Moment of truth."

"We should probably think about what do just in case this doesn't work out," Hermione said. "It's always good to have a contingency plan."

"I don't really think we have much of a choice," said Harry. "We'll probably just have to tag along with Stephanie. If that's alright with her."

"Fine with me," she said. "I can't exactly leave you to fend for yourselves here. Plus, it would be nice to have the company."

A few more minutes passed before Marcus came back into the room.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked.

But the look on his face said it all.

"Not good."

"Afraid not," he answered. He looked at Stephanie. "I got as far as saying your name, and that was the end of it."

Stephanie sighed and hung her head.

"Not surprising."

"It's not all bad news, though," Marcus said. "Before she got to the lecture, Rebecca did say she's coming to Hoenn for a case. So maybe she'll reconsider if I try again later and keep up the pressure."

"Maybe," Stephanie said. She did not look comfortable with that idea.

"Did she say what she was coming in for?"

"She couldn't get into the details, but she did say there was some suspicious activity going on in Hoenn. So we should be careful."

Marcus paused for a second before continuing.

"You know, she did seem a little worried when I told her I planned on going to Hoenn. This is probably why."

"I think she's worrying too much. It's not like Unova has been the picture of safety lately."

"Yeah, but you know how she is. But back to business here."

"I think we're going to tag along with Stephanie," Harry said. "There's a chance we could run into one of those rings again if we're traveling around."

"Okay, that's settled," said Ron. "Now what?"

"My Pokemon should be healed by now," said Stephanie. "Let's run back to the Center and pick them up."

"Good idea," said Hermione. She held up the locket. "And then we can test out my theory."

"Alright," Stephanie said as she held the Murkrow's Poke Ball. "Here we go."

Harry couldn't help but laugh inwardly. Sure, his nerves were acting up. He was about to learn if a Pokemon could destroy the Horcrux. But Stephanie seemed barely functional about having to be around the Murkrow again.

"Do you have a name for it?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered, short on breath. "She's a female, so I decided to call her Mia."

"Will you relax?" Hermione mock-scolded her. "You're her trainer now. She's not going to attack you again."

"Easy for you to say."

"Alright, alright," said Marcus. "Let's get a move on. I'm interested in seeing this."

They were back in Petalburg Woods. It was better to do this without anybody around. Stephanie had made sure she could not sense anyone in the area. Hermione had set the locket down a short distance away.

"Okay," said Stephanie. "Come out, Mia!"

She tossed the Poke Ball in front of her. Mia appeared after a flash of light.

She stared at Stephanie intently, causing the latter to take a few steps back. Stephanie was still obviously uncomfortable despite Kiara's "encouragement" earlier.

Ron approached her from behind and put a hand on her shoulder, oblivious to Hermione's glare of disapproval.

"It's alright," Ron said reassuringly. "It can't be any worse than when you two first met. She's probably…"

Mia cawed and took off flying right at them. Stephanie screamed and tumbled backward.

But Mia did not attack her. Instead, she landed on Ron's shoulder.

"Huh?" Ron was startled.

Mia started brushing her face against his.

"What…What's going on here?"

"Well, that's interesting," said Marcus. "Looks like she's chosen you over Stephanie."

"But, why?" Ron asked. "Stephanie captured her."

"Yeah," Stephanie said getting back to her feet. "But you did all the work to make it happen. So she must consider you more worthy to be her trainer."

"So…er…what do I do now?"

"Just tell her to attack the locket," Hermione snapped.

"O-okay, but what move do I use?" Ron wasn't handling his sudden anointment as a trainer very well.

"I taught her Dark Pulse with a TM when I picked her up from the Center," said Stephanie. "That's probably your best bet. It's one of the strongest Dark-type moves out there."

"Alright," Ron said. "I'll do that."

Hermione scoffed just loudly enough for Harry's ears to pick it up. Fortunately no one else seemed to hear it.

"Hermione," he whispered. "Don't you think you being a little too paranoid?"

Hermione shot a dirty look back at Harry. It frightened him enough to not push it any further. At least for now.

"I'm going to open the locket," he said. "And, Ron, tell Mia to attack it right away. Whatever's in there is going to put up a fight, so don't waste any time on it."

"How are you going to open it?" Ron asked.

"I'll ask it to open, with Parseltongue," said Harry.

"Parse…what?" asked Stephanie.

"Harry can speak to snakes," Hermione said sharply. "I thought you would have known that from reading Ron's mind earlier."

"I took in what I thought was important," Stephanie replied. She was getting defensive now. "I couldn't remember every single detail."

"You girls can argue about that later," said Marcus. "We're burning daylight; it's going to be dark soon. Let's get this show on the road."

"Yes, let's," Harry said. "Here it goes. On three now."

He put all of his focus on the locket.

"One…two…three…open."

The last word came out as a hiss. The locket swung open.

"Are those… eyes?" Stephanie asked? She was very unsettled.

Indeed, they were. Behind each of the glass windows inside the locket was an eye. Tom Riddle's eyes before his transformation.

"Do it now, Ron," Harry said hurriedly.

A voiced hissed from the Horcrux.

"I have seen your heart, and it is mine."

"Mia," Ron began. "Use Dark…"

"I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all you dread is also possible."

"Don't listen!" Harry shouted. He could tell Ron was starting to waver.

"Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter…Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend…Second best, always, eternally overshadowed…"

"Ron!" Harry shouted again. But before the Horcrux could say anything more, Mia let out a loud caw and fired a black beam of energy at it.

The Horcrux went silent as it was hit, but remained intact.

"She used Night Shade!" Stephanie yelled. "But that wasn't enough. Finish it off now before it starts up again. You can do this, Ron!"

"Right, okay," Ron said more to himself than anyone else. "Mia, use Dark Pulse!"

Right away, Mia shot a beam of purple and black circles from her beak at the Horcrux. There was a blinding flash of light and a loud, long scream when the attack hit. And then, silence.

"Is it out?" Harry asked.

"I-I'm not sensing anything," said Stephanie.

"I'll check it out," Harry said. But before he could move, Mia fluttered over to the locket, picked it up and flew back to drop it at his feet.

The windows were shattered. The Riddle eyes were gone.

"You did, Ron!" he said excitedly.

No answer.

"Ron?"

Harry looked up to see Hermione rushing to Ron's side. Ron had fallen to his and was holding his head in his hands.

Harry darted towards them as well.

"Hey!" Stephanie said in alarm. "Are you – are you okay?"

She started to move forward when Hermione flashed a look at her. Harry couldn't see it, but it was enough to make Stephanie back up a few steps. She looked like she wanted to say something, but Marcus put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head when she looked at him.

We'll need to do something about that Harry thought.

They couldn't let Hermione's jealousy get out of hand, and the Horcrux announcing Ron's insecurities to everyone obviously did not help matters.

"We should probably get back to the hotel now," Stephanie said uncomfortably. "Give me a second. Here we go."

There was a flash of light, and they were all back in the hotel room.

"What just happened here," Harry asked, a bit startled.

"I can teleport," Stephanie replied wearily. "And that just took out the last of my energy."

She fell backwards onto the couch.

"What a day," she groaned.

"That's right," Harry said. He was starting to feel exhausted as well. "It really has only been a day."

"Longer, actually," said Hermione. "It was night in England when this all started for us."

"Looks like we all could use some rest," said Marcus. "You guys remember where your room is?"

"Yeah," said Ron, finally able to speak again. "That's not a problem."

"You two go on ahead," Harry said to Ron and Hermione. "I'll catch up in a bit."

They left without saying anything. Mia trailed behind them.

Stephanie seemed to guess what Harry wanted to talk about.

"This is about me and Hermione, isn't it?"

Harry nodded.

"You might want to give her and Ron some space for a while," he said. "She's brilliant, but she can be a bit insecure when it comes to Ron. She's a lot like him in that way."

"Yeah," she answered. "I've noticed. Don't worry, I can take my self out of the picture tomorrow."

"You got a plan?" asked Marcus.

She nodded.

"I'll do some sightseeing around town in the morning," she said. "And then I have a Badge to win."

She looked back over at Harry.

"Anything else you need from me?"

Harry shook his head.

"Good."

She fell over on her side. Out cold.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Marcus asked.

"She's afraid of Dark-type Pokemon," Harry said. "But not your Zorua. Why?"

"Familiarity, I guess. She's known Kit for a while, so she's probably used to him. At least that's the only reason I can think of."

Harry nodded.

"Tell her I said good luck with her Gym challenge," he said before exiting.

Harry didn't say anything to Ron and Hermione once he got to their room. He figured they needed some time to themselves. Instead, he immediately collapsed onto his bed and let a much needed sleep overtake him.

This wasn't quite what I expected, Draco thought as he took in his surroundings after stepping through the ring with Crabbe and Goyle.

They were on a ship at sea. A mast stood in the center of the deck a few dozen feet away. Night was beginning to fall as the sun set over land in the distance. It was a pretty sight, and it made Draco feel just a little more relaxed for a moment.

Only a moment.

Waaaaaaatch!

A shrill cry filled the air.

What was that?!

"There! Over there!" Draco heard his father shout.

Near a staircase at the front of the ship stood a large and unusual looking rodent creature. If Draco had to make a comparison, he would say it looked like a giant rat, but its posture reminded him of a meerkat. Its body was mostly reddish brown with yellow stripes in the middle. What caught Draco's attention most were its glowing eyes. It turned its head slowly, as if registering each one of Draco and his comrades.

Waaaaaaaatch! It screamed again.

"Leave it alone for now," Draco said. "Remember, we don't want to start anything if we don't need to."

"Good job, Watchog!" a voice called from behind them. "Give each of them a Mean Look!"

As opposed to how it's already looking at us? Draco thought as he turned around to face the voice's source.

"Look out!" his father shouted as he stepped in front of him and cast a Shield Charm.

Draco saw a large snake lunge and bounce off the invisible shield. When the snake landed on the deck, he felt calling it "large" was a disservice. It looked to be close to ten feet in length, and it had the thickness of a large python or anaconda, though its blood red fangs gave it the appearance of a viper.

It was truly the stuff of nightmares.

"Sorry, sorry!"

That voice was different from the one before, and the snake settled down a little upon hearing it.

A young woman appeared next to the snake and knelt down beside it, petting it gently. The sunlight was fading but she was close enough for Draco to make out some of her features. She looked to be a little older than him, maybe by about a year or two.

If I had an older sister, she's probably look like that, he thought.

He also saw a man right behind her. He guessed that was the first voice they had heard. They were both dressed in dark colored clothes, but the man also wore a hat and had the lower half of his face covered. On the left side of his shirt was a half-black, half-white shield design with what looked like a "P" in the center.

"Sorry," the woman said again. "Krait can be a little jumpy, especially with strangers."

She started walking toward them, the snake slithering at her side.

"Did you come through the ring?" she asked. "Where are you from? What brings you here?"

She spoke in a friendly tone. It was enough to make Draco relax just a little. Still, neither he nor anyone else answered her.

"Come on, don't be shy!"

"Savanna," the man spoke for the first time. "I'm not sure you should…"

Savanna held up a hand behind her to silence him.

"It's alright," she said without looking back. "I got this."

"Father," Draco whispered. "Take the Shield Charm down. I'm going to try talking to her."

His father gave him a confused look.

"I'd like to solve this without any fighting," Draco went on. "If I talk with her, there's a chance we can reach an understanding. Then we can all go home and that'll be the end of it."

His father gave it a few seconds of thought.

"Alright," he said and began working to undo the shield.

"Hey, hey," Savanna spoke up again. "What's everyone talking about over there? No need to keep secrets."

"Just hold on for a moment," Draco answered. "I'll tell you everything you need to know soon enough."

It only took a couple of minutes for his father to get the shield down.

"No one do anything foolish," Draco said before moving forward. "Please, don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be."

And that's the end of chapter four. I hope you enjoyed it.

The main reason this chapter (or really, the end of it) took so long to finish is because I had a hard time figuring out where to send Draco and the others. I went through about a dozen locations before finally settling on the Plasma Frigate.

Yes, Team Plasma's in Hoenn. I know in the BW2 postgame they were trying to atone for their sins with Colress leading them, but let's pretend that didn't happen. I wanted to extend the final scene a little more at first, but I figured this was a good stopping point since you all have waited long enough for this chapter by now. Plus, it's a good way to carry momentum into chapter 5. As for everything else...

Ron's a trainer now. How's he going to handle it going forward? What is Team Plasma doing in Hoenn anyway? Will Draco's attempt at diplomacy work? Keep reading to find out!

Naming notes (since I forgot to do it last chapter)

Marten: a member of the weasel family.

Bandit: A reference to Sneasel's Hidden Ability, Pickpocket.

Kit: After the kit fox species.

Mia: Named after Mia Corvere, the protagonist of Jay Kristoff's Nevernight Chronicle.

Krait: A type of venomous snake.

One more thing. I'm thinking of going back and changing one of Stephanie's Pokemon. It won't make any real difference in the plot so far, so anyone who's read up to this point won't need to go back and reread from the beginning.